We in Israel anxiously wait to see what the backlash will be following the implementation of the US Administration’s decision to take military action in response to the chemical weapons attack attributed to the 155th Brigade of the 4th Armoured Division of the Syrian army.

A senior Syrian military official has threatened that “if Damascus is attacked, we shall hit Tel Aviv.” Distribution centres across the country are overwhelmed by long lines of anxious Israelis waiting to get their gas masks. Reservists are being called up and the IDF has chosen to hold two days of exercises in the Golan Heights along our border with Syria.

Many fear that the Syrian government will use the Hizbollah to exact revenge on Israel following the impending US attack on Syrian targets, which is expected to take place in the coming days. We have closed the heavy metal cover over our bomb shelter window and have brought down our gas masks from the attic.

Meantime, the Israeli shekel is falling and our TV chat shows are hosting security experts and ex-military officers to discuss what the likely fall-out will be of an American attack on Syria.

It is on occasions such as this that we in Israel stand alone knowing that, while we are not involved in the Syrian civil war, it could impact upon us and, were Assad’s opponents to succeed in toppling the current regime, we would find ourselves with Al-Qaeda and Jihadist terrorists on our northern border.

That is something that both our supporters and our critics need to remember.